Born to die: A very Clato story
by readingfreak10
Summary: Cato and Clove, from District 2, They were star-crossed lovers, but nobody knew... And that's exactly why I'm going to tell you their story.
1. Chapter 1

**Hi guys! So this is the first chapter of this story, I hope you enjoy it, and don't forget to review so that I can improve!**

**Cato POV**

'Reaping day.'

It's the only two words I can think about while I get up. Still in pajamas, I walk to the kitchen and see my little sister's already there, eating some breakfast.

"Hey, Lilly." I say. She looks up and smiles at me.

"Hey. Good luck today." I smile back, but I'm not happy. I really don't want to get chosen. I don't want to go to the Hunger Games. She means way too much for me...

The Hunger Games is an annual reality show held by the Capitol: one girl and one boy from each of the 12 districts are sent to an arena, where they will fight to the death, until a lone victor remains.

I prepare some breakfast and eat it in silence. Then, I go back upstairs to take a shower. Once I'm done, I put on some gray pants and a white shirt my mother has left for me on the chair. Ever since my brother died a couple of years ago, she always made sure Lilly and I always had everything we needed. My father's not home yet, he's still working in the mines.

I'm Cato Hadley. I'm 18 years old. I come from District 2, masonry. And I'm one of the possible candidates of the upcoming Hunger Games.

My sister's just turned 9, so she won't enter the reaping for three more years. She's one of the only people I care about. If anything would happen to her, I would never forgive myself.

While walking down the stairs, I see my sister running past me. She stops for a moment when she's next to me and makes me bend over. When I do so, she gives me a kiss on my cheek and continues running up the stairs. That's one of the many reasons I love her so much.

I'm at the door, ready to leave for a walk before heading to the Justice Building, where the reaping will be held, when my mother lays her hand on my shoulder.

"Cato." She says. "Take care."

"I will." I answer, but at the moment, I can only assure her I will take care of myself during the walk I'm about to make. After that, I can't promise a thing.

Once I'm outside, a cold breeze surprises me. It's May, so I expected it to be a bit warmer. The clouds are dark and it seems like it could begin raining at any moment. I run downtown, that's where she lives: Clove.

Clove is my best friend, not to say the only one. We met way before we began training. She's two years younger than me, but we never cared much about age. Once I was old enough to begin training in our District Gym, she begged her family and the trainers to let them train with me. She got what she wanted. Since that moment on, we were inseparable.

I knock on her door and her mother comes out.

"Hello, Mrs. Sevina. Is Clove here?" I ask as politely as I can. I never really liked that woman.

"No, she has already gone to the Town Square. You'll find her there." I thank her and hurry to the square.

Once I'm there, the first thing I have to do is inscribe myself. I stand in line and wait for my turn. A peacekeeper, a police sent from the Capitol, takes a bit of blood and lets me through.

I stand with the other boys of my age and look for Clove between the girls. At first, I don't see her, but when she looks at me and gives me a shy smile, I recognize her. She looks beautiful in the blue dress with matching shoes she's wearing. Her hair is tied up in a bun, which surprises me, because she always told me how much she hated them.

We turn to the Justice Building, where the Capitol has set up an amazing podium for the reaping. The mayor comes out of the Justice Building and sits in one of the three empty chairs placed against the Building's wall. He's followed by his wife and daughter. Then, Lavinia walks up the podium.

Lavinia is a Capitol citizen sent each year to District 2 as a representative of it. She's proud of being assigned to our district and not to another one, like 11 or 12, where there are lots of underdogs.

Districts 1, 2 and 4 are Career Districts, and the tributes are called Careers by all the others: we train since we're little with the goal of participating in the Hunger Games. We win almost every year.

"Welcome, welcome! Happy Hunger Games! And may the odds be ever in your favor..." Lavinia seems especially happy and vivid, just like the color of her clothes. "Now, before we begin, we have a very special film, brought to you all the way from the Capitol!"

A screen next to her turns on and we see the same film as every year: it's about the Dark Days, a rebellion in which the Districts protested against the Capitol, but they... well, we, were defeated. Since that day on, each year we held the Hunger Games of a reminder of the Capitol's so-called generosity and forgiveness. So actually, the video's just propaganda. Dull, endless propaganda.

Once the video's over, the actual reaping itself begins. Lavinia walks to one of the glass bowls: the one with the girl's names. She draws one and walks back to the middle of the stage. She opens the paper.

I just wish that it's not Clove, just not Clove. I don't care about the other girls, just about her. I wish it so hardly I have to take care not to say it out loud. I feel cold sweat on my forehead. I close my eyes to not freak out. Then, Lavinia calls out the name of the female tribute.

It's Clove Sevina.


	2. Chapter 2: The Choice

**Okay, so that was the first chapter! I hope you liked it! Here's the second one...**

I feel a spark of fear running through my spine and taking control over my body. I'm petrified. I look at Clove as she walks up the stairs to the stage. Once she's there, Lavinia grabs her by the shoulder and brings her to the middle of the stage, next to the microphone.

"Well, there she is, our first tribute from District 2!" She says. There's a moment of silence before she continues. "Any volunteers? No? Well, that's too bad."

Clove looks down and I know she could begin crying at any moment, I can tell by her sunken shoulders. She used to tell me about how happy she's be if she would bet chosen, but now, once it happened, she has changed her mind.

I can't let her die. I have to protect her. She's one of the only people I care about, and I can't lose her. I have to do something.

So as soon as the boy's name is called, and it's not me, I volunteer. I'm not doing it because I want to participate in the Hunger Games. I just want to save Clove. I know only one of us is going to get out of the arena, and I'm going to make sure it's her. She deserves it, she deserves to live a normal life.

Once I volunteer, I can hear Lilly screaming behind my back, but I don't turn around. I don't want to see her teary eyes, that would only make me more sad, and that's the last thing I need right now.

I walk up the stairs and stand next to Clove. She looks at me for a moment, but then looks down once again.

"Well, here we have the tributes from District 2!" Lavinia screams out through the microphone. "Our tributes for the 74th Hunger Games!"

The crowd doesn't applaud, they all look sad. Many of the people in District 2 knew the relation Clove and I shared, but I didn't imagine them to be so sad. They bring their right hand to the left side of their chest, where the heart is. First, only one, but slowly more people join them, and in the end everyone from District 2 is making this gesture. This means respect for the one who it's dedicated to. It's not very used, but we all know its meaning.

Clove and I share a sad look before being taken into the Justice Building. Clove grabs my hand and gives me a firm handshake before being dragged into a room. I shout, but it's useless.

Two peacekeepers bring me into another room. The white walls and a single wooden chair don't make me any happier. I sit down and put my face in my hands, trying to calm down: I'm freaking out.

I look up when I hear the door open. Lilly's standing there, a few feet away from me. I stand up and she runs at me. I give her a big hug, and she doesn't resist.

"Cato." She whispers. "You can do this." I look down at her and nod.

"Where are mom and dad?" I ask. She looks down and shakes her head.

"They were too saddened by your volunteering. Why did you do it, anyways?"

I look at her while I'm trying to find the adequate answer. I couldn't really tell Lilly I did it for Clove, or could I?

"I... I just wanted to..." I can see her eyes filling with tears. "I'm going to win this thing, Lilly, I promise."

She draws a tiny smile on her face and puts something in my hand. I open my fist and see a little necklace, bathed in gold. It's a chain with a heart in the middle. I stroke the little heart with my thumb. I'm sure she made this herself. It's beautiful.

"For you," She says. "to give you luck."

"It's beautiful, Lilly. Thank you." I kiss her on her forehead, and then a peacekeeper comes in to take her away.

"Take care, Cato! You can do this! Just remember to..."

She can't finish her sentence, because the door shuts between us. I sit down and look at the necklace. The rays of sunlight that come in through a small window make a breathtaking reflection on the heart. I can see all the colors I've ever seen in the little reflection: yellow, green, red, even blue! It's just like a tiny rainbow in my hand. But this means much more to me than just an ordinary rainbow.

Lavinia comes in and brings me to a car parked outside. It's my first time ever in a car. I put on the necklace just before Clove steps in the car, too. She doesn't look at me, she just looks at her lap. I know how she feels, so I keep quiet. Lavinia sits in the front chair and doesn't stop talking about the wonders of the Capitol and how much we're going to love it, but I'm not listening and I don't think Clove is, either.

The only thing I know is that I'm not going to be the one getting out of the arena alive.

**I may post the next chapter in a few hours. Until then... May The Odds Be Ever In Your Favor!**


	3. Chapter 3: The Capitol

**Okay, so I finally finished writing this chapter and now I'm writing the next one. I hope you like it!**

Once we board the train, Clove and I are amazed by the luxury inside it. The walls are covered with some weird kind of cloth that doesn't seem familiar to me. Clove directly runs to a table with food that doesn't look like anything I've ever seen before: all kinds of colors and shapes that makes it look even more artificial than it probably is. She puts a handful of mini-puddings in her mouth before screaming something not understandable at me. I just nod and smile.

"Well well, what do we have here?"

Clove and I turn to the source of the sound. A man, who must be at least 40, is leaning against a door that conducts to another car. I take a step forward and I hear Clove swallows.

"Hello." I begin, my voice as neutral as possible. "We're Cato and Clove. You must be our mentor."

"Yeah, I'm Brutus, victor of the 62nd Hunger Games." His name sounds familiar to me, but that must be because he's been mentor for many years now. I'm surprised I hadn't taken notice of him before, I must've been too busy training. "So, you are this year's tributes? Good luck." He gives an evil smile before sitting down in the seat that's closest to him.

I sit in a chair facing his, and sign Clove to do the same. After she has taken a seat, I clear my throat.

"So, what advices can you give us?" He looks at me closely, and then at Clove. He keeps his mouth shut. "Brutus?"

"Sir, please, we really need it." Clove begs, and then Brutus finally talks.

"First of all, young lady," Clove growls a bit; she doesn't like to be called like that. "I don't like to be called like that. Second, you're Careers! I thought they had already taught you your tasks!"

"They never told us which they are." Clove tells, and I nod, agreeing.

"Okay, then. Let's get started. The most important thing is to know your enemies... and your allies."

"This is the Hunger Games. So what's the difference between those two?" I ask. "Because, at any moment, an ally could become an enemy."A faint smile appears on Brutus' face.

"I'm glad you brought that up, eh..." I repeat my name. "... Cato. What you've just said proves that you are further with your tasks than you believe you are. Still, there are some thing I'm sure you still need to know."

For the next few hours, Brutus teaches us different strategies and tricks. How to fool tributes by pretending you let them join your pack, deciding what tributes could be dangerous as allies and which not, how to recognize if they try to fool us or not...

After the sunset, Lavinia appears out of nowhere and gathers us all in the main car to watch all the reapings. First of all, there's District 1, where I see a blond girl getting chosen and a tall boy volunteer... Following them, there's us: Clove getting chosen and me volunteering for a boy which name's still unknown for me. Then. There's District 3, with a regular-sized girl volunteering to take the place of a much younger girl, and a boy who must be around 14 getting chosen...

When they display District 6's reaping and nothing remarkable has happened, I get tired and go to my room. I take off my reaping clothes and put on some clothes I found in the closet: a v-neck shirt and jeans. I'm not hungry, so when they call me for dinner, I don't go there. I take a fast shower, but it takes me a bit longer than expected. On the control panel of the shower there are many different buttons with which you can choose scents, soaps, shampoos and much more. When I finish showering, I smell like fresh oranges.

I sit on the bed an turn on the TV, just on time to see the last reaping, District 12's. I see a girl volunteering for her little sister and a pretty muscular boy getting chosen. Even though it would be nothing special back in my district, this is completely new for District 12: they haven't had a single volunteer since the first Games began. They're known as the biggest losers. The weakest district. They only have one victor, a drunk guy who won the 50th Hunger Games. Everyone in District 12 is an underdog, an easy prey for Careers like me and Clove.

As soon as they show the Capitol seal and the anthem, I turn off the TV and lean backwards. I try to analyze everything that had happened since this morning, when I woke up. Clove got chosen. I volunteered to protect her. I said farewell to my sister and didn't get the chance to do the same with my parents. I've boarded a train to the world of fame and money. I met the people that will mean the difference between life and death for me in the arena. I got the first glimpse of my allies. And now I'm here, laying on the bed, trying to relax. I'm not succeeding.

I'm surprised by how much something can change in just a day. I tell myself I'll do anything to come as far as I can in the Games, but I tell myself it's not about me winning, but about Clove. I'm being very brave now, but will I keep her safe when the time comes for one of us to die? Or will I retreat and kill her? It's always that way. People who tell themselves they'll do something in the arena, but when things get complicated, the only thing they do is follow their primary instincts: kill. I really hope that doesn't happen with me.

For the moment, I'll just try to keep us both alive as good as I can.

Clove runs into my room. I sit up straight and look at her. She looks all panicked: her hair's a mess and her face's red. She walks at me and sits next to me. I put an arm around her and stroke her hair.

"Hey girl. What's wrong?" I whisper. She looks at me and I see she's doubting if she should tell me. "Come on. It can't be that bad."

"Okay then." She clears her throat. "I know we've just left, but I..." I give her a confused look and she continues. "I miss our district. I miss my family. I miss you."

"How can you miss me? I'm right here, Clove." She gives me a faint smile, but then she looks down.

"I know, but it won't be the same. We'll never be the way we were back in our district. Never." I know what she means. In our district, we were just some kids playing and training together, never worrying about anything. Now, we were never going back to that. Now, we're not innocent kids anymore. We're assassins. In a few weeks, we'll have a lot of blood on our hands. Literally and figuratively. "I know it's weird, but..."

"I understand, Clove, I do. And it's not crazy." She lays her head on my lap and I lean backwards. "It's not crazy."

We stay like that for a couple of minutes, before she stands up, gives me a kiss and goes to her room.

"That's why I love you..." I whisper softly for myself. I think... I might be in love with her. I'm not sure, I can't tell.

I pull my blankets over me and try to get some sleep, but every time I get near to it, thoughts of District 2 come up. What will my parents be doing right now? And Clove's? Will they be crying? Or have they already accepted it and are they trying to get some sleep?

I'll never know, so I put my mind in blank and, after a couple of minutes, I finally fall asleep.

**Don't forget to send me a review about what I could do to improve the story or anything else.**


	4. Chapter 4: Screams

**Wow! I began uploading this story yesterday and I've already gotten more than 100 views! You really don't knwo how much this means to me... Thank you all!**

**This chapter is a bit short because I wanted to put something small in the middle, so you understand with a bit more detail what's going on in Cato's mind. Just... Let's call this a bonus chapter.**

I sit on my bed and hear the crickets chirping outside. As I look into the total darkness, I want something to happen.

And something happens.

But not the way I wanted it to.

Lilly. I can hear her scream. I run out of my room and rush into hers, but she's not there. I go to my parent's room, but their bed is empty, too.

I look in the kitchen, the dining room, the living room, everywhere. I can't find her. I can't find anyone, in matter of fact. Lilly's screams get worse and worse. I feel a chill running through my spine and drops of cold sweat rolling down my forehead. I have to help her.

'Where is she? Where is she!?' I think. I run outside and I feel the cold air blowing in my neck, just like the morning of the reaping. I run down the streets and I seem to get closer to her screams. It hurts me on the inside hearing that screams, but it's much worse thinking about what has made her scream like that. It's more than clear she's suffering.

I hear I'm close to her. I stop in front of the house the terrible sounds are coming from. It's Clove's house. I scream Lilly's and Clove's name and knock the door. There's no reaction. Soon, my instincts have waited enough so I kick down the door and run inside, hurry up the stairs. Every time the screams are clearer and louder. The screams... they come from Clove's room. I open the door and the room is empty, just like every room in my own house.

I can hear Lilly calling my name and begging me to save her, like she was there, standing in front of me. I look in the closets, under the bed, but there's no sign of life. Except for the screams, then.

Suddenly, Lilly's screams stop. I sit on the ground, exhausted. I'm happy it's over.

But it's not over.

It's just the beginning of something new.

Clove's screams begin sounding everywhere, like she's right in front of me, and Lilly's screams join too. I surrender, it's too much for me to handle. I can't fight it anymore. I don't even know what I'm fighting against.

"Cato! Cato!" I hear Clove scream.

I open my eyes. I'm laying in my bed in the train. Clove's sitting on my bed, she looks worried.

"Cato! Are you okay?" She asks.

"Yeah, I'm fine." I say, while drying my forehead with my sleeve. Yep, the cold sweat I had felt in my dream was there. "Just a nightmare."

"I'm glad you're okay. I heard you scream and..." She stops for a moment. "You were screaming Lilly's name. I directly rushed into your room and woke you up."

"Thanks." I whisper. She hugs me and I don't resist. I'm just glad she's okay. I suppose Lilly's okay, too. Because it was just a nightmare.

Just a nightmare.

**Hope you enjoyed it!  
Peace out!**

**-Readingfreak10**


	5. Chapter 5: Almost there

**Okay, so I finished Chapter 5. Here it is:**

"Tonight we'll be arriving at the Capitol." Lavinia tells us. I serve myself some more stew.

"So, guys, what are you good at?" Brutus asks, looking at Clove and me.

"I'm very good with knives." Clove grins. She is. She can hit the dummies in their bullseye from many yards of distance. Brutus gives her a thumbs up before giving me an asking look.

"I can use the sword." He gives me a 'not bad' look. "And I know how to break someone's neck in a matter of seconds."

"That's true." Clove states. She gives me a smile. I smile back.

"Okay, great. I think you won't have any problems. The odds are in your favor." Clove look at each other and smile. Brutus looks at us, with a serious face. "I heard the boy from 1's very skilled, too. So don't believe you've already won. Because you haven't. And don't forget only one of you two will come out alive."

"And the girl?" I ask. I remember the blond girl with her emerald eyes. She was hot. But she was no match for Clove. "Do you know anything about her?"

"Just that she's not that talented as the boy and you two. Not much more."

"So... you're saying Glimmer will be less useful than him?" Clove wonders.

"Glimmer?" I ask. "Is that the girl from 1?"

"Yes, if I recall correctly..." Clove doubts for a moment. "She's the girl you just said. The one that catched your eye." Clove winks at me, joking.

"Hey, that's not true!" I protest, but it only makes Brutus and her grow a bigger grin on their face. "Come on, guys, it's not funny." I try to say, irritated, but I end up laughing, too. Lavinia looks at us, confused. She doesn't understand us. We were enjoying a bit of so-called 'District 2 humor'. She shakes her head, sadly, like she was saying 'Poor guys.'. She stands up and walks away.

After a couple of minutes, we finally stop laughing.

"Okay, kids, you're off for the rest of the day. Remember, tonight..." Brutus says.

"Yeah, the Capitol, we know." Clove rolls her eyes and walks away.

I stand up, say goodbye to Brutus and go to my room. I lay on the bed and move the heart on my necklace between my fingers. I had hidden in under my shirt so Clove wouldn't see it and ask me where I had gotten it from. It was the thing I least needed at this moment.

I stand up and walk to the window. Outside, I can see large fields and a couple of houses. I can only catch a glimpse of each thing, because the train is moving very fast. 'Where are we?' I ask myself. District 3? 5? 1, maybe? I had no clue. I could always go back to the bar car, but I needed to be alone now.

I look down at the tiny golden heart, which was still in my hand. I move it with my fingers and see the beauty of the colors that had amazed me in the Justice Building. I see more colors, and more, and more... the amount of colors that could be seen when a ray of sunlight hit a golden object were infinite, I already knew that. District 2 is masonry, but they don't only teach us how to manipulate stones and stuff like that. Gold is also very common in our district. On the other hand, we didn't have many precious stones or jewelry. All the gold and construction materials were sent to the Capitol as soon as they were extracted from the mines. Precious stones and jewelry were District 1's job. Luxury. I've heard they have a machine that applies pressure on coal and turns it into diamonds. But I think that is just a lie.

I hear the door of my room opening, so I quickly put the necklace back in my shirt. I turn around, expecting to see Clove, but it isn't her. It's Brutus.

"Hey. Is there something wrong?" I ask, feeling a bit uncomfortable. He steps forwards and leans against the wall next to me.

"No, just checking if you were all right," He answers. "you sounded a bit sad when you left."

"Well, I wasn't." I reply with an angry tone. Brutus doesn't seem surprised I react like that.

"Yeah. Sure. Well, we'll be arriving at the Capitol in a couple of hours. Make sure you're ready." He begins to walk to the door.

"What? Already? Weren't we arriving after sunset?" I ask, startled.

"Yes, but it turns out our schedule was wrong. So be ready." And then he leaves.

I sit down on my bed. I don't want to go there. I've always felt such a hate for the people who live in the Capitol, those who have never felt hunger, who complain when the littlest thing goes wrong...

But my life would be depending on them. So I have to pretend I like them.

And pretend I will.

**May The Odds Be Ever In Your Favor!  
Peace out!**


	6. Chapter 6: The Arrival

**I've already passed the 200 views, and I'm really surprised to see this... and it makes me incredibly happy. Thank you all! You are such an amazing people!**

The doors open in front of us; the crowd roars. I put on a fake smile and think they'll notice, but everybody seems to believe it. Stupid Capitol people. Clove, who is standing next to me, grabs my hand. I look at her and see she's shivering a bit. I let her go and pull my arm around her and wave with the other one. Clove smiles and waves, too. Yeah, the sponsors are going to love us. What am I saying? They already love us. We're the tributes from District 2. Brutal, bloody... But caring. And handsome. Oh yeah. Let's not forget that.

Brutus and Lavinia push us to the entrance of the building where we will stay for the next couple of weeks, until the Games begin. As I get pushed forward, I feel many people reaching out for me and Clove, wanting to touch us. That just disgusts me. I think it disgusts Clove, too. Brutus acts like he doesn't notice anything. I'm sure this happens to him every year, I'm guessing he's just used to it.

Clove and I keep eyes on the path in front of us. When we finally get into the building and the doors close behind us, Clove gently pushes my arm off her and takes a few steps forward. I sigh, relieved, knowing we weren't going out for the rest of the day.

I look around me and gasp: we were standing in an enormous hall, almost empty at the moment, decorated with the most luxurious stuff. Walls covered with panels that showed the reaping and other things, for example. In the middle of the hall there was a bench, covered with cushions and other crazy stuff. I walk to it and sit down to rest a bit, while Clove looks for the elevators to go to our apartments.

A few minutes after my arrival at the Great Hall, a boy begins heading in my direction after greeting a few people. He must be my age, 17 or 18, and he's very tall. He's skinny, and his dark brown hair is combed so it falls to all the sides. He must be a tribute. I know because not only does his face sound familiar to me, but he also wears casual clothes and no any makeup or those other incredibly weird things that are common in the Capitol. When he's standing in front of me, I stand up, to show some politeness.

"Hi, I'm Marvel." He says, and then sees the confused look on my face. "From District 1." He adds.

"Oh, yeah. I'm Cato." I smile and shake his hand. "District 2."

"Nice to meet you, Cato. Well, it seems we're allies, aren't we?" He smiles back.

"Yes, it does." I want to continue, but Lavinia calls me. She seems stressed and doesn't stop screaming about her schedule or something like that. "I have to go, Marvel. See you tonight, at the tributes' parade. Bye!" I say, while running to the elevator. I hear Marvel saying goodbye from behind me.

I step into the elevator and push the button "2". Lavinia had told us that each district has his own floor. I'm actually jealous of District 12, because they get the penthouse. But I think the rooms are actually the same.

Our apartment is huge: rugs on the floor, an incredible buffet on the giant wooden table, an enormous plasma-TV with a sofa, and so on. I catch a glimpse of Clove before she runs into a hallway, presumably looking for our dormitories. I take a seat on the sofa and Brutus joins me.

"Tonight, there's the..." He begins.

"Tribute's parade." I finish. He smiles at me.

"Yeah. Of course you knew that. It was just stupid to think you didn't." He stands up and begins walking away. I turn around and look at him.

"Actually, it isn't. I almost forgot it." I lie. I don't want to have problems with my mentor.

"Oh, okay. When Lavinia comes back, she will bring you and Clove to your preparation teams. Make sure you're ready." He says, before walking away.

Lavinia comes in a few minutes later. She's still stressed about her schedule. Is that everything she cares about? She looks around her and notices Clove's absence. Then, she runs into the hallway where Clove had gone. Minutes later, I hear my district mate scream and Brutus running to her room, too, while he mumbles something I couldn't understand. Later, Lavinia comes back, pushing Clove in front of her. Brutus is behind them, kind of mad and tired at the same time. He runs at me and makes me stand up. He gently pushes me to the elevator, where Clove is still trying to get rid of Lavinia.

"Every single year." Brutus mumbles from behind my back. "Every. Single. Year."

Brutus' irritated voice makes me smile. I don't dare to laugh, because I'm kind of afraid of this 'bossy' Lavinia, but it's actually funny. Well, it seems every single tribute from District 2 has punctuality problems. Or are the Capitol people just that... weird?

"Great, guys, we're late!" Lavinia screams.

"Come on, it's not that bad." Brutus protests, and Clove and I nod agreeing.

Luckily the elevator ride is short, because there was an uncomfortable silence after that. Once we step out of the elevator, Clove and I are guided through many halls and finally into different rooms by peacekeepers. They close the doors behind us and leave us alone.

I look around in the room. This room was unlike any other I had seen since I boarded the train to the Capitol: the walls were painted gray, and there was no decoration. I wondered how long I had to be waiting there. But just after I said that, my preparation team hurries into the room.

**So Cato finally met one of his allies (if you don't count Clove, of course). Tell me how you'd like the tributes to behave against each other, 'll keep it in mind for the next chapter!**

**May The Odds Be Ever In Your Favor!**

**-Readingfreak10**


	7. Chapter 7: The Chariot Parade (Part 1)

**Kay, so this one was a bit easier to write, and I posted it as soon as I finished it.**

**P.D. Kentwell7, I'll keep your opinion in mind. Thank you :)  
**

**Enjoy!**

How long have I been here now? Two hours, maybe three? One of the stylists, a man named Alec, puts a strange lotion in my hair, totally destroying my hairstyle. It makes me kind of angry, because I love my hair, but I don't protest.

"Look at you. You look fabulous!" Capra, a girl with purple hair, screams in my ear, making me half deaf.

"Yeah. Great." I mumble between my teeth, so they don't hear me. Rea, a woman that must be in her forties, joins Alec and begins washing the lotion out of my hair.

When they're done, they all stand in front of me and admire their 'good' work. They look very satisfied. On the other side, I preferred my old look. I guess I'll just have to get used to this. They run out of the room screaming things like "Let's go find Cacily!","Cacily's going to love this!" and things like that. For a moment, I wonder who Cacily is, but I suppose she's my stylist.

A girl in her early 30s walks in my room. Her green hair is messed up, but in a way that looks like they did it on purpose. She's wearing such a weird clothes I can't even name what they are.

I don't recognize her, which makes me think this is her first year. Well, at least she seems like a nice person.

"Hi." She says, keeping her head low. I think she's a bit shy, which is pretty weird for Capitol citizens. "I'm Cacily. You're Cato, right?" She looks at me. I nod. "Nice to meet you." She shakes my hand.

"Nice to meet you, too." I answer. She draws a little smile on her face before facing me with her back while opening a hidden closet in the wall.

"Here's your costume." She tells, while pulling out an armor, like to ones that were used by old romans, but this one was bathed in gold. My jaw drops and Cacily gives me a bright smile. It's one of the most beautiful things I've ever seen. The armor, I mean. "You like it?"

"I love it. Really." I reply, still amazed.

"Nice. It took Juno, Clove's stylist, and me a lot of work to figure out this year's costume. This was the best thing we could think of." She says, while taking the armor to me and adding a couple of little details.

"That doesn't surprise me a bit. I don't think there's much that can be better than this." I answer. Cacily ignores me and helps me getting dressed.

I take off my robe and Cacily sees the necklace. I totally forgot I was wearing it. The preparation team let me keep it while they were working on me.

Cacily grabs the heart with one hand and looks at it, curiously.

"It's my token." I explain. "My sister made it for me." I add, and she lets it go. "I'll just take it off." I begin taking off the necklace and hand it to her. She puts it in her pocket.

"I'll take care of it. I'll give it back to you, I promise." I nod and smile. "I better get you dressed. You don't want to be late." I think of Lavinia screaming at us about punctuality. The thought only makes me shiver.

We remain silent as Cacily helps me get dressed. When we're done, I look at myself in the mirror and I don't see myself: I see a fighter, someone who kills without regretting it a single moment, a victor. Even though I'd usually feel embarrassed wearing a skirt, now I really didn't care. It just matched the outfit.

I walk to the door, ready to go to the Great Hall, but Cacily stops me and hands me a pair of golden sandals. I put them on and Cacily checks me one last time. When she sees I'm ready to go, she guides me to the Great Hall.

Like his name says, the Great Hall is huge. More than I expected. I see thousands of people waiting for the tributes' parade to begin. They're screaming, shouting, clapping and all kind of things, which makes me even more nervous than I already am. Luckily they can't see me... yet.

I meet up with Clove, Brutus and Lavinia. While Brutus and Clove greet me, Lavinia mouths "Punctuality" and then walks away. Clove's dressed up in an armor similar to mine. She and I look around us, trying to identify as much tributes as we can: first, we see Marvel and Glimmer, dressed up in purple feathers. I'm really happy I'm not one of them. Clove points out the boy from District 11. He's a tall and muscular boy, which surprises up, knowing he's from a district that is filled with underdogs.

The tributes from 12 catch my eye. They're dressed up in black, and I think "They're not worth having a better costume", but then comes one of their stylists and sets their clothes on fire. I feel anger and jealousy burning inside me, while Clove pulls me away and back to our carriage. The parade could start at any moment.

The doors open in front of us and the carriage from District 1 begins to move. We'd be next. I turn around and see Brutus, Cacily and Juno looking at us.

"It's show time." Brutus says, just before our carriage begins to move and I'm forced to look in front of me.


	8. Chapter 8: The Chariot Parade (Part 2)

**Here's the second part of this chapter. I wrote it, but I changed a few little details, so it took me a while more to upload.**

The spotlights shine on me and I feel forced to close my eyes in order to not become blind. I soon get used to the light and look around me. The crowd roars and I remember I have to make them remember me. So I do. I throw my fist in the air, like I'm saying: "I'm proud I come from District 2! I'll fight to bring pride to my district and I'm willing to die doing it!" The crowd seems to love me, they begin screaming my name and there are many roses being thrown at me. Clove, who has been waving like she really doesn't care about any of them (which is true), looks at me for a moment and copies me. Now we really seem like district partners. And everybody knows it. Our names are being chanted, screamed, shouted... They love us.

But then, something happens.

The crowd looks behind us, to the end of the line. I can't look back, that looks awful, but I really want to know what happens... But actually I think I already know. _District 12_. They made a whole new concept out of coal mining. No wonder everybody loves them. I look around me and I feel sad and angry at the same time when I see that almost everyone is looking at them. My plan wasn't working out very well. Clove's face is turning red, but I don't know if it's because the anger, jealousy or nerves. She gives me a killing looks, which seems unfair, because I'm not the one stealing her sponsors. I shrug at her, because I can't do anything about it, but her face doesn't soften.

We arrive at the City Circle and wait for the other tributes to arrive. District 1 is standing next to us. Marvel sees me and a little smile appears on his face.

"What?" I mouth, because I don't know what's so funny. Me wearing a skirt? Well, at least I'm not the one dressed up in purple feathers. Marvel ignores me and looks back in front of him.

After everyone has arrived, President Snow appears on a balcony above us and gives a short speech about how he appreciates our courage and sacrifice. And then, the usual "Happy Hunger Games" things. We make one last ride before going back into the Justice Building.

When the doors close behind us, Brutus, Lavinia, Cacily and Juno approach us. Seems like Lavinia finally made an appearance. Clove and I step off the carriage and take a glimpse around us. I see most of the mentors or stylists just talking or congratulating their tributes, but one of the stylists from District 12 approaches them with some kind of canister and extinguishes their fire. The girl looks around her and she sees me. I give her a dirty look and she turns back to her stylists.

"That was awesome!" Lavinia screams in her funny Capitol accent. " I've heard so many good things about you two!"

"Cato." Brutus turns to me. "You had the idea of raising your hand, am I right?" I don't know if he's angry or happy, so I give a little nod and look down. "It was one of the best things you could've done out there." I look up and see Clove's jaw drop. If it's because of jealousy or just surprise, I can't tell. I smile and thank Brutus, but it looks like he's already busy with something else.

"Let's take you upstairs." Cacily says. I agree and she gently pushes me to the elevators. While walking, I see the girl from 12 looking at me again, and I give her one last dirty look before disappearing into the elevators.

Back in my apartment, in my room, to be more clear, Cacily helps me take off my costume and hands me some normal clothes. She leaves just after that. I don't even wonder why, because Capitol citizens always have things to do. I get dressed: light blue shirt and jeans. I feel like I'm missing something, but I can't seem to find out what it is. Shoes? No, I'm wearing slippers.

Then, I notice what it is: Lilly's bracelet.

I remember giving it to Cacily, and she promised she'd return it, but she never did. Or maybe she left it somewhere and thought I'd see it?

I look around the room, in the bathroom, everywhere, but I can't find it. Well, I guess I'll ask her tomorrow, when she gives me my training clothes.

I go to the dining room and see Brutus and Lavinia are already there. Clove must be getting changed.

"Finally around, Icy eyes?" Brutus says, and I see he's doing as well as he can not to smile.

"Oh, very funny. You made that up yourself? Yeah, I have blue eyes. So what? I'm not the only one." He shakes his head and tries to be more serious. I sit down and Lavinia sees the hate in my look, so she changes the topic.

"Do you know something about Clove?" I shake my head and turn to her.

"I don't, but I guess she could be ready at any moment."

Just after I say that, a smiling Clove walks into the living room and places herself next to me. Just like me, she's wearing comfy clothes.

"Now that we're all here, we could begin eating." Lavinia says before clapping her hands so that the dinner gets served.

We eat in silence and Clove and I return to our rooms. I planned to visit her later, but when I saw how tired she was, I changed my mind and stayed in my own room, instead. I didn't want to go back to the living room. At the moment, I wanted to be alone... or with Clove. But that wasn't going to work out for tonight.

I lay in my bed and pull the blankets over my head. Soon, it's too warm and I pull the blankets down a bit. Something hard pinches my back. I grab it with my hand and, even in the almost total darkness, I recognize it. It's Lilly's necklace. So Cacily did return it. I close my fist with the necklace inside it and whisper:

"There you are."

Then, I fall into a deep slumber.

**Next chapter:  
Training begins!**


	9. Chapter 9: Training Begins

"Wake up, Cato! You don't want to be late for training!" Lavinia screams with her high pitched Capitol accent. I open my eyes and see her running out the room while screaming "What a disaster!" followed by screams coming from Clove's room. Not only Clove's screams, Lavinia's as well. I wonder what's happening in there, but I'm too sleepy to move.

I bring my hands to my face, trying to cover it, but one of my hand is closed in a fist. At first, I don't know why, but when I see the chain with the golden heart, I remember what happened last night. The screams in the other room finally begin to cease and I smile when I see a very sleepy Clove walking in my room.

"Hey, baby. What happened?" I sit on the edge of my bed and she sits next to me.

"Lavinia, she pulled the blankets off me so I grabbed her by the throat." She gives me a devilish smile.

"So that's why I heard you both scream." She nods. "You're crazy, you know?"

"Yeah, and that's why you love me."

That's... kind of true. If she were one of those sweet girls who do everything you tell them to do and behave like role models, she would be just one girl more. But she's different. She doesn't like people telling her what to do, what to say, how to behave. She has her own style. That's what I like about her. Her guts.

"Yeah." I reply to her statement. "It is."

We turn to the door when we hear Lavinia's stressed screams once again. We grin at each other, and Clove stands up.

"Well, if we don't want to give her a heart infarct, we should better get ready." She says, while rolling her eyes. I nod, agreeing, and she walks away.

I look down at my hands and see my left hand, still in a fist, and I'm glad Clove didn't notice. I don't want her to know. At least, not yet. Maybe I'll tell her later. At the moment, we already have enough things to care about. I put on my necklace and dress myself in some clean clothes. I'll wear them until Cacily comes to bring my training uniform.

I step into the dining room and I see everyone, except for Lavinia, who I've heard mumbling something while stepping into the elevator before, is already there, breakfast is on the table, and everyone has begun eating without waiting for me. I don't care. Our stylists could come in at any moment to bring us our training clothes. I quickly eat a bit of toast, which I suspect is from District 9, grain, or District 11, agriculture. I wonder if the tributes from those districts will have avoided eating those foods because it hurts them too much thinking about their home. Probably. The products we make in my district of the Capitol are everywhere: the walls, the floor, the ceiling... so it's impossible for me to avoid it. But if I could, I'd do the same as them.

Unlucky me.

Cacily and Juno hurry into the apartment, repeating over and over that we're late, and drag us into our rooms. Cacily pulls the uniform out of her bag and helps me get dressed. As soon as we're done, she pushes me into the elevator, without waiting for Clove. Or is she gone, already?

I get distracted by the lights in the elevator, which causes me to forget I've already arrived at the underground level, where the Training Center is. I snap back into reality and join the other tributes that have already arrived. I search the walls for a clock and find one, hanging above the plateau from where the Gamemakers will observe us for the next three days. It's 9 o'clock. Training should begin now, but there are only 6 or 7 of us. Clove isn't one of them. Still, Atala, the Head Trainer, begins her speech just on time. She tells us not to fight with other tributes; there are special trainers at each station. She also explains that we shouldn't ignore the survival skills, because most of us will die from natural causes. Yeah, sure. Maybe for the other tributes, but the Careers always have enough supplies. I smirk when Atala gives me a look while remarking the survival skills thing and that we'll have plenty time to fight in the arena.

After 30 minutes of boring speech, we're finally allowed to roam free. I go to the sword station first, and the trainer takes a step back. I guess he already knows I'm a Career. There is a large variety of swords. I choose the one that looks more deathly: it's the biggest one, with a long, shining blade. The trainer points the dummies at me. Even though I'm not supposed to show my strength at the first moment, but save it for later, I don't like people telling me what to do. I just do what I want.

I swing the sword at a couple of dummies cutting of their arms, heads, legs, and hitting their chest where the heart is. When I'm finished, I look around me and see like 12 or 13 tributes staring at me, jaws dropped. It appears many of the tributes have arrived after the speech. I see Clove at the knife throwing stand, which makes me smile. The underdogs that were looking at me think that I'm smiling at them, intimidating them, and they all go to a different station, trying to stay as far away as possible from me. I sincerely don't care.

I decide to join my allies. And in this case, I don't mean Clove. I mean District 1. I spot Marvel at the spear stand, throwing spears from many yards and hitting the in the bullseye. I'm not really surprised, but I am impressed. I walk at him, while the tributes get out of my way without me even asking or signing.

"Hey, Marvel. Did you miss me?" I ask with a seducing voice. Marvel didn't see me coming, but doesn't seem surprised. "Did you?" I continue.

"Yeah, of course, always." He plays along with me. I get a bit confused, because in the begin I was fooling around with him, and now he was fooling around with me. Marvel continues, but now he begins to whisper. He probably doesn't want anyone else to know this... "Have you seen Glimmer today?" I shake my head. I can't remember seeing her during Atala's speech and, even now, while I'm looking around me, searching every station, it seems she isn't here yet. "Great. I haven't seen her since I left the apartment, either. Lucky me. I really don't like her: she spends the whole day talking about makeup and fashion and that kind of things."

"Wow, you've got bad luck. Especially since your district makes luxury..." I smile, but the smile disappears of my face when I see a Gamemaker pointing at me. 'What?!' I think. 'Have you never seen two people talking?'

"I know, and everything in my district is shiny. Haven't you noticed while watching the reaping?" I turn back to Marvel, who hasn't noticed what I've done and continues talking about what we were saying before.

"Actually not. I wasn't very busy looking at what your district looks like. I was paying more attention to you two."

"I saw your district and I think..." I suddenly feel an urge to leave, I don't want to continue talking about this. I don't want to remember my home. I excuse myself and run to an empty corner where the Gamemakers and the other tributes can't see me. I sit on the ground with my hands on my face.

'What am I doing?' I keep telling myself. 'I'm a Career, not some kind of weak loser. I can't hide and pretend there's nothing going on.' I look up. Staring directly into the light makes me flinch. I take a deep breath and stand up. As I walk past the camouflage station, where the boy from 12 is attempting to look like a tree, Glimmer grabs me by the shoulder and turns me around. She wets her lips with her tongue, trying to be sexy, but it disgusts me. She tiptoes and leans forward, trying to reach my lips, but I take a step back and she almost loses her balance. I grin and walk away, without saying a word. I hear her make a few sad noises and I feel pity for her, but I shake it off me and head to Clove. I want to surprise her, but when I'm close to her, she turns around to grab another pack of knives and sees me. Bad luck for me. She smiles and hands me two knives. She knows very well I'm useless throwing knives, but I suppose she just wants to do things together. And maybe teach me a bit more. But why bother?

In a few weeks, we'll probably be dead, anyways.


	10. Chapter 10: Training

**So I'm already on Ch. 10, this is going quite quick, but I have to tell you that, from now on, I'm not going to be updating as soon. Writer's issues. Sorry guys :(**

The training days go by very slowly. Of course, the Careers, a.k.a. me, Clove, Marvel and Glimmer have nothing better to do than look at the other tributes to see what their abilities are and maybe a bit of practicing ourselves to conserve our honor. That's what we do for three long days.

And today, it's the last day of training.

The private sessions.

I hurry down the stairs, I don't have time to wait for the elevators; I'm already late. God, I shouldn't have yelled at Lavinia to leave my room and tell her I'd come as soon as possible. She got mad at me, knowing that it wasn't true, but when she saw the dirty look, she shut up and left, without saying a word. Now I regret my actions.

When I arrive at the gym, I'm glad to see half of the tributes isn't there yet. The private sessions start right after lunch, so I've got two more hours of training. I run to the net climbing station and begin climbing as fast as I can, making sure not to fall. I feel the net moving from side to side very much, and it's not because of me. I turn around and see Glimmer trying to climb up. What's with this girl? She just wouldn't leave me alone. She has been flirting with me for the past three days and she just ignores the clear hints that I don't want to know anything about her.

I climb higher until the point I see she stops to prevent her from falling. She pulls a few sad faces, trying to convince me to come down, but I won't. I hear the trainer laughing at her and her pathetic attempt of flirting with me. I keep climbing up until I reach the ceiling. When I look around, I see the green eyes of that little 11 girl just a few inches from mine. How the hell does she climb so well? She must be around 12, and she's from a weak district, so there's no chance she could've been training for this. As soon as I glare at her, she quickly retreats and climbs back down, just to go hide behind a wall to spy other tributes.

I wait until Glimmer's got tired of waiting for me and goes away to come down myself. I join Marvel, who seems deeply amused by the fact I just made Glimmer look like a weak person (something she actually is), pats me on the back and helps me practice at the spear throwing stand. I get pretty close some of the times, but it's definitely not my area of expertise.

"You know, we could kick Glim out of the alliance." Marvel whispers in my ear when I'm grabbing a new spear. "Clove's okay with it."

"Me too, I answer, "but what about you?"

Marvel raises an eyebrow and gives me a serious look. "I've been okay with it since I knew she was going to be in the Games with me."

"But you volunteered. So you actually chose to be with her in this." Marvel's face hardens and I see anger building up in him.

"Look, my family needs the money. They put everything they had in my training and this was my last chance to win... for them." He's practically screaming now. "I didn't have a chance! I didn't want to do this! And especially not with HER!" Glimmer, who was standing somewhere else, turns around to look at us with a confused expression on her face. Marvel takes the spear out of my hand, throws it at the dummy and it hits bullseye while he walks away. I consider going behind him, but I decide giving him a bit of space. What he just said is nothing new to me: money issues are often the reason that there are volunteers in the Career districts. My family's lucky, we don't need extra money, but when Clove got chosen, I felt the need to protect her.

And here we are, sentenced to death, while, even if we're the last two standing, only one of us will go home. But those are problems for the future. Now, I have to worry about training scores and sponsors.

We are called for lunch, and I and Clove sit together. Glimmer tries to keep some distance between us two and her and I don't even see Marvel. I wonder if he will come around before the Games begin. He'll have to.

"Do you know what's going on with Glimmer and Marvel?" Clove asks me, while taking a bite of her apple. "They seem upset."  
"Glimmer's disappointed because she can't get everything she wants, and I don't know what's wrong with Marvel." I lie, because I understand that's a private topic and I don't want to talk about it. Clove seems to buy the lie.

"Oh, well, okay then. Have you seen the boy from 12? He's thrown a couple of those really heavy balls today. Maybe he's not as worthless as we thought."  
"What, you mean like we should ask him to join the alliance?" I scoff. Only the thought of having him with us amuses me. "He wouldn't last 5 minutes."  
"I know, and I wasn't talking about him joining us. But we could set up a trap." Clove looks around her, to make sure no one's listening, and bends over to get closer to me. "Let him join us and, when he's sleeping, kill him." I nod, and she moves back, while taking another bite.

"I'm okay with that." I answer, while standing up.

"Where are you going?" Clove asks.

"Training. To get ready for the private sessions." Clove looks down and shakes her head slightly, so I grab my apple, which was still on the table, turn around and walk back to the training room.

I walk around a bit, without really knowing where I'm going, and soon I find Marvel sitting on a bench next to the elevators. I consider leaving, but I don't.

"Hey." I say, standing a few feet away from him. "Aren't you going to eat?" I ask, moving towards him and giving him my apple, which hasn't been eaten yet. "Have it. I'm not hungry, anyways."

Marvel looks thoughtful for a while, but I guess hunger wins the battle, because he begins taking little bites of the apple.

"Thank you." He mutters between bite and bite. I don't answer, I just smile at him, glad he's at least talking to me without screaming.

We hear a woman scream our names, so Marvel quickly takes a few last bites, throws the rest in a bin and we sprint to the canteen, where they're lining everybody up to bring us to the Training Hall. We quickly take our places to let as little people as possible notice our sudden appearance, but, of course, Glimmer and Clove notice.

I don't blame them, though, because noticing the absence of your district partner is one of the first things you do.

The trainers lead us to the Training Hall, where we'll have to wait until it's our turn to show the Gamemakers our skills. The first one to be called is Glimmer, who stands up, winks at me and walks away in a way that is supposed to be sexy, but isn't.

Marvel gets called 20 minutes later. He doesn't say a thing, doesn't give any sign, he just stands up and walks to the door. I can hear the clinging of weapons coming from the room, and that only helps to make me even more nervous. But I know I'll do great, and Clove will, too.

Clove's name gets called, so I pat her on the shoulder to get her moving, but she pulls me away and stands up. She sighs and begins to walk to the door; she glances at me over her shoulder once and then she's gone.

While I wait until my name is called, I look at the other tributes and see a large variety of emotions displayed on their faces: it goes from anger to boredom, sadness and even happiness. I guess I'm one of the bored ones. I close my eyes and concentrate on my thoughts, even though my mind is blank.

My name gets called, so I stand up and take a few breaths. Even though I've been prepared for this since I was little, I'm nervous and afraid something will go wrong. I take a few steps forward until I'm standing in front of the doors, which open as soon as I get close enough.

'It's time to show them everything.' I think, and step inside.


	11. Chapter 11: Private Sessions and Scores

The Training Room is, of course, empty. Well, almost, because above me the Gamemakers are laughing, eating and talking. I stand in front of them, but they only notice me when I clear my throat. The room goes dead silent in less than two seconds.

"Cato Hadley, District 2." I say out loud, and the Head Gamemaker nods. I take a few steps back, eyes fixated on them, and then turn around to go to the sword station. I grab the sword I've been using for the last couple of days: heavy, long blade, very sharp. It's the one that looks most like the one I use at home. I take it, make a few experimental swings in the air and head towards the dummies. I stand in the middle of the circle and hit the first three dummies in their chest. Next, I cut off the head of two others.

I continue like that for 10 minutes, until there are no limbs left to cut. So I put the sword back and walk to the combat stance. A trainer stands in the middle of the ring and challenges me to pin him to the ground. He blocks my first hits pretty easily, but when he doesn't see my fist aiming for his nose in time, he stumbles backwards, bringing the back of his hand to his bleeding nose. I take profit of the distraction and tackle him, hold his shoulders down with my knees and grab his arms with my hands. The trainer yells that's enough and I get off him. I turn around to see the reaction of the Gamemakers and they all seem pretty satisfied, except for an old man with a long beard, who shakes his head and waves his hand dismissively.

The Head Gamemaker stands up and says that's enough, so I bow slightly and walk away.

Clove's waiting for me next to the elevators, looking bored, but when she sees me, her face lights up in a way I haven't seen her before.

"So, you waited for me, even though they told you to go up directly after you finished?" And they did tell her that, they even told her twice, because they knew she wouldn't listen. Clove grins and nods.

"Yeah. No one tells me what to do." I smile at this comment, because this was one of the reasons why she was always in trouble back in our district. But I guess they can't do much to her now.

"I've heard." She punches me in the shoulder in a playful way and I grab her up. She begins to protest, telling me to put her down, but I don't. Not until we're in the elevator and the doors are closed.

The elevator ride is short, because we only have to go to the second floor. We step out of the elevator and Brutus, Lavinia and our stylist jumps on us. Well, not literally, of course. The begin to ask us questions, all at the same time, so it's hard for us to distinguish them. We tell them we did well, that they shouldn't worry, and that we did show some manners out there. That seems to calm them down, and then Brutus tells us to get changed. For no apparent reason, I sprint to my room instead of walking like normal people. Cacily doesn't come after me; I don't need her to bring me any clothes or anything. I go to the bathroom and take a shower. Even though I should be used to the Capitol showers by now, I'm not. I still click all the buttons at the same time and end up smelling like roses, which I totally don't like. I hit a few more random buttons and then I'm being sprayed with a more manly smelling perfume, although I can't tell what it smells like.

I step out of the shower, dry my hair and body with the first big towel I find and choose some comfy clothes to put on. The training uniform I left on the bed has already been taken; I guess Cacily did it, but maybe I'm wrong. This place is crawling with Avoxes, too, so maybe it was one of them.

I walk back to the living room, where Cacily, Juno and Lavinia have seated themselves on a couch and are talking about the Capitol fashion, while Brutus sits in a chair across the room, absorbed in his own thoughts. I consider joining the conversation, but I really don't care about the Capitol, even less about fashion, so I sneak back to my room and sit on the bed for a second. I let myself fall on the soft mattress and close my eyes. I think I dozed off, because when I open my eyes again, Clove's face is just a few inches from mine. It was so unexpected that my instinct kicks in: I grab her shoulder and throw her over my head. She falls on her back on the other side of the bed and giggles. I sit up straight and look at her, with a mix of confusion and anger all over my face.

"Jeez, Clove! I could've killed you!" Even I know that's not true, but she doesn't say I'm wrong. She just looks at me, with a huge grin plastered all over her face.

"Maybe." Is her only answer. I stand up and take a few steps forward while scrathing the back of my head. "Hey, sleepy-head, it's almost time to watch the scores."

Right. The scores.

After the private sessions, each tribute is evaluated individually and given a score between 1 and 12, 1 being useless and 12 being invincible. A twelve has never been given, but I think an 11 has. Normally, Careers like Clove and me get between the 8 and 10, while the other districts struggle to get a 6.

Clove runs out of my room, with me following her, and in a few seconds we're both seated on the ground in front of the TV. Lavinia seems scandalized by us and screams at us to sit in a chair, like normal people, but we just act like we don't hear her and start a conversation about what our expectations are.

Brutus turns on the TV and we see Caesar excitedly discussing about the scores. A few minutes later, he finally gets to business.

District 1. Glimmer and Marvel get an 8. I really wonder how Glimmer got such a high score; she's worthless.

Then, it's my turn. I see Caesar raises his eyebrows and then says: "10!"

I let out a relieved sigh. The stylists and Lavinia seem delighted and Brutus smiles and nods approvingly, but Clove keeps her eyes fixated on the screen and gives Caesar a death glare when he keeps a moment of silence before saying her score. Clove's got the same as me, and it looks like the stylists could explode of happiness at any moment. Brutus has drawn a sincere smile on his face, one of the only times I've seen him do that, and for once it looks like Lavinia won't scold us for jumping on the couch. In that sense, Clove and I are just like a couple of toddlers, but I think we mostly do it to annoy Lavinia (although that isn't exactly working out the way we planned it).

We calm down, but stop listening to the television. We don't care about the other scores, it'll be the same as usual. We begin a conversation about what we did during the private sessions. At some point, we begin talking about our district and how life back there was, and Lavinia loses interest. We don't care, though, and just continue talking. But when she gasps loudly, we all turn to the screen to see what's so wrong.

Someone got an 11.

And guess who.

Fire Girl.


	12. Chapter 12: Thinking Of Home

**Wow guys! So much views! And 2 favorites and follows already! I know I've said this before, but I'll say it again: Thank you all! I couldn't have done it without you all! I'm going to try to keep this up so you can enjoy; you deserve it! Here's Chapter 12!**

"In life and in movies there's a similar challenge where you have expectations, and you end up in situations that are not meeting your expectations."  
- Jeff Bridges

My face turns red and Clove lowers her hand to her belt, expecting to find a knife there, but clenches her hand up in a fist when she remembers she's unarmed. I have no words to describe what I'm feeling now, and I don't want to say anything, so I stand up and stomp to my room. I close the door behind me with all my power and kick one of the sides of the bed. It doesn't hurt, actually, so I walk around my room and finally end up sitting on my balcony. There aren't any chairs, so I just sit on the cold hard ground, focusing on one of the mountains I can see at the end of the valley. I'm not sure, but I think I can see the Nut, one of the biggest mountains in District 2 that has also been used as a military base since the Dark Days.

I finally permit myself to wonder how my family is doing back in my district; will they be sad? Maybe happy for my score? Angry, just like me, that an underdog got the highest score of us all? Or will they have already gone to bed, considering it's getting dark?

Getting lost in thoughts calms my anger. When I snap back into reality, I feel empty, without any emotions. Not sad, not angry... Just numbness. I walk back inside and ignore Lavinia's yells at me to come down for dinner. She doesn't come to drag me to the table, though, so I guess she understands I just want to be alone.

I sit on the edge of the bed, but let myself fall backwards and end up in a pretty comfortable position. I stay like that for a while, not thinking about anything, when a gentle knock on the door draws my attention.

Clove opens the door and smiles softly at me. I don't react, I just lay there, looking at her.

"Hey." She begins. "You skipped dinner." She sits next to me and combs her fingers through her hair.

"Didn't feel like eating." Is the only answer I give.

"Is this about 12? 'Cause you shouldn't worry about that. She's dead as soon as we enter the arena." She smiles sadly at me, which tells me she knows I'm not thinking about that. I wonder if she's been thinking about home, too...

"I'm okay. It's not that." I tell her, even though I know it's unnecessary. "You don't have to feel bad. It's not your fault." She opens her mouth, like she's about to say something, but she doesn't. She stops combing her hair and looks at me intensely for a few seconds.

"You're not the only one missing home." She says, before caressing my hair once, standing up and walking away. Before she closes the door, though, she adds one little thing. "And it's no one's fault."

And here I am, laying on my bed, without wanting to move one tiny inch. It feels like my whole body suddenly weighs too much to move it. I'm still trying to process everything that happened today but, after a while, I give up and end up falling asleep.

The next morning, I don't wake up with Lavinia's screeches, but by the light coming in through the window. I'm still laying in the same position as yesterday. I sit up straight and rub my eyes. I've got a headache, but I don't know how I got it. And I'm very hungry. I guess that's what I'm going to take care of, first.

I tiptoe to the dining room, only to find the table empty except for a bowl full of fruits of all sorts. I pick out a fruit that vaguely remembers me of an apple and devour it in less than a few minutes. I walk around the apartment quietly, looking for some sign of life, but there's no one. At least, none of our stylists, Brutus or Lavinia. I don't know if Clove's in her room or not, so I decide to go check out.

I knock on her door, but there's no answer, so I step inside and see her bed all messed up, but empty, and the door to her bathroom open. The bathroom is empty, too, so I guess they all left. The tributes are supposed to have the day to prepare themselves with their mentors for the interviews, but Clove and I already went through that for the last couple of days, so I guess we have the day off.

Thinking about where I should go, I walk back into my room and get changed. Finally, I decide to go wander around a bit wherever they permit me, and when I'm walking to the elevators to go to the Great Hall, the door opens in front of me and Clove steps out of it.

"Oh, so you're finally awake." She says, pretty cheerful. "So, what were you going to do?"

"Well, I was going to take a walk around the Capitol." I answer, trying to walk past her, but she blocks my way.

"I'm sorry, but that's not going to work out. Everybody is forced to go back to their houses." She takes a few steps forward to me, forcing me to step back.

"And why's that?" I snort,.

"District 8 got in a fight with a couple of Capitol citizens. Luckily, there were Peacekeepers nearby, so they could take them away as soon as they began screaming. They're lucky if they don't get executed before the Games begin." I raise my eyebrows at her,not sure if I should believe her, but she looks me dead serious in the eyes and I know she's not joking.

"Well then, I guess we have a looong day ahead of us..." I mumble, knowing how true these words are.

**Not the most exciting chapter, I know, but I had to fill in a couple of blanks that were appearing and this was the only way I could think of.**

**I'll try to make the next chapter more exciting!**

**-Readingfreak10**


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